Memory use for garbage collected computer environments

ABSTRACT

A method, information processing system, and computer readable storage medium, periodically monitor, with a processing system, information related to an application&#39;s memory usage including a maximum heap memory size, an in use heap memory size, and a garbage collection activity level. Based on determining that the garbage collection activity level is below a first threshold, estimating an amount of memory that can be released from the application by reducing the maximum heap memory size. Based on determining that the estimated amount of memory that can be released from the application is above a second threshold, attempting to release memory from the application.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority from, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/791,919, entitled “OPTIMIZING MEMORYUSAGE ACROSS MULTIPLE GARBAGE COLLECTED COMPUTER ENVIRONMENTS”, filed onOct. 24, 2017, which is a continuation of and claims priority from, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/272,948, entitled “OPTIMIZING MEMORYUSAGE ACROSS MULTIPLE GARBAGE COLLECTED COMPUTER ENVIRONMENTS”, filed onSep. 22, 2016, which is a continuation of and claims priority from, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/834,787, entitled “OPTIMIZING MEMORYUSAGE ACROSS MULTIPLE GARBAGE COLLECTED COMPUTER ENVIRONMENTS”, filed onAug. 25, 2015, which is a continuation of and claims priority from, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/945,516, entitled “OPTIMIZING MEMORYUSAGE ACROSS MULTIPLE GARBAGE COLLECTED COMPUTER ENVIRONMENTS”, filed onJul. 18, 2013, which is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/945,494, entitled “MEMORY USE FOR GARBAGE COLLECTED COMPUTERENVIRONMENTS”, filed on Jul. 18, 2013; the collective disclosure thereofbeing hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to computer memory management,and more particularly relates to managing use of computer memory by oneor more applications in a garbage-collected information processingsystem.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Programming languages such as Java, C++, Lisp, Smalltalk, and severalscripting languages allocate memory from such an area known as the heap(or heap memory). At any given time, some parts of the heap may be inuse while parts may be “free” (i.e., unused) and thus available forfuture allocations. In order to free memory from the heap, garbagecollection is needed. A key problem with such environments is thatmemory overhead is a significant factor. Programmers cannot manuallyallocate or deallocate memory objects. They need to rely on garbagecollectors (i.e., one or more garbage collectors are normally availablein the operating system) to free up memory which is no longer beingused. In many cases, this can result in excess memory being allocated tothe heap.

Such excess heap memory being allocated to one or more applicationsoperating in a computer system environment can create serious memorymanagement problems for the computer system. These problems areparticularly difficult to deal with in situations in which multipleapplications are running on the same computer system, and theapplications are all competing for memory. For example, multiple Javavirtual machines (JVM) might be running on the same informationprocessing system concurrently, competing with each other for memory (aswell as other resources). The idea is to allocate memory efficientlyacross all applications. Memory should be properly distributed acrossall of the JVMs on the system. A key problem is how to allocate memoryacross the system for optimal performance among all of the JVMs.

Java allocates memory from an area known as the heap. In order to freememory from the heap, garbage collection is needed. The concepts of“heap” and “garbage collection” are well known, and are explained invarious publications, such as see a Wikipedia article entitled“programming_language”, a Wikipedia article entitled “memorymanagement”, and a Wikipedia article entitled “garbage collection”, thecollective contents of these articles being hereby incorporated hereinby reference.

In summary, memory management is the process of managing computermemory, including mechanisms to dynamically allocate portions of memoryto programs upon request and freeing it for reuse when no longer needed.Memory requests are satisfied by allocating portions from a large poolof memory referred to as “the heap”, and, at any given time, some partsof the heap are in use while some are “free” (i.e., unused) and thusavailable for future allocations. While ideally memory should beproperly distributed across all of the JVMs on the system, conventionalsystem have failed to do this in an optimal fashion. Conventional systemdesigns regularly struggle with how to allocate memory across the systemfor optimal performance among all of the JVMs, with often less thansatisfactory results.

Garbage collection is a form of automatic memory management thatattempts to reclaim “garbage”, as referring to memory occupied byobjects that are no longer in use by a program. Garbage collection isoften portrayed as the opposite of manual memory management, a mechanismin which the programmer specifies which objects to deallocate and returnto the memory system. Many computer languages, such as Java, C++, andseveral scripting languages, require garbage collection either as partof the language specification or effectively for practicalimplementation, while other languages, such as C, C++, were designed foruse with manual memory management but have garbage collectedimplementations available. Still others, such as Ada, Modula-3, andC++/CLI allow both garbage collection and manual memory management toco-exist in the same application by using separate heaps, and others,such as D, are garbage collected while allowing the user to manuallydelete objects and disable garbage collection when speed is required.

The entity that performs garbage collection is known as the garbagecollector. Garbage collectors are typically implemented in softwarerunning on a computer system. They can also be implemented using specialhardware that supports the garbage collector software to aid garbagecollection.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

According to one embodiment, a method for managing computer memory byreducing memory used by an application is disclosed. In a processingsystem, including an application, a run-time system, and a heap memoryused by the application, wherein unused memory in the heap memory isreclaimed by a garbage collector, a method for reducing memory used bythe application comprising: periodically monitoring, with the processingsystem, information related to the application's memory usage includinga maximum heap memory size, an in use heap memory size, and a garbagecollection activity level; based on determining that the garbagecollection activity level is below a first threshold, estimating anamount of memory that can be released from the application by reducingthe maximum heap memory size; and based on determining that theestimated amount of memory that can be released from the application isabove a second threshold, attempting to release memory from theapplication. An information processing system and a computer readablestorage medium comprising operations including the method above are alsoprovided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures, in which like reference numerals refer toidentical or functionally similar elements throughout the separateviews, and which together with the detailed description below areincorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to furtherillustrate various embodiments and to explain various principles andadvantages all in accordance with the present disclosure. The figuresare briefly described as follows.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating one example of a computer systemoperating environment, depicting a memory optimizer for allocatingmemory across multiple Java Virtual Machines (JVMs), according to oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computer systemoperating environment, depicting a memory optimizer for allocatingmemory across multiple logical partitions (LPAR) which each includemultiple Java Virtual Machines (JVMs), according to one embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example computer systemoperating environment suitable for use with various embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a more detailed view of the historyprofile information repository shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a graph chart illustrating one example of various levels ofgarbage collection overhead for a computer system graphed over time. Thegraph chart is used to help describe various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are operational flow diagrams illustrating examples ofoperations of a computer system, according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As required, various detailed embodiments are disclosed herein; however,it is to be understood that the various disclosed embodiments are merelyexamples, which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specificstructural and functional details disclosed herein are not to beinterpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as arepresentative basis for teaching one of ordinary skill in the art tovariously employ the present disclosure in virtually any appropriatelydetailed structure. Further, the terms and phrases used herein are notintended to be limiting; but rather, to provide an understandabledescription of embodiments of the disclosure.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a memoryoptimizer and a memory rebalancer in a computer system can automaticallymanage memory allocation across a plurality of Java virtual machines(JVM) to optimize memory use by the JVMs and by the operating system.While various embodiments of the present disclosure are described interms of using Java applications and a JVM, the new and novel approachto memory management can be applied to many different types of run-timesystems and to programming languages, such as Java, which use heapstorage and garbage collection such as C++, Lisp, Smalltalk, and variousscripting languages.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable tolanguages with automatic memory management and garbage collection, suchas Java, Lisp, Smalltalk, C++, many scripting languages, etc. Certainembodiments of the present disclosure are applicable to languages whichuse garbage collection in general. For ease of exposition, variousembodiments of the present disclosure will be discussed in terms of Javaapplications and Java virtual machines (JVM run-time systems). One ofordinary skill in the art will be able to easily apply such discussedvarious embodiments of the present disclosure to other languages andother run-time systems, that operate with garbage collection.

FIG. 1 depicts an example of our invention. In this figure, a memoryoptimizer 104 allocates memory across multiple Java Virtual Machines(JVMs).

FIG. 2 depicts a more complex example of our invention. In this figure,there are multiple logical partitions (LPARs), and each LPAR includesmultiple JVMs. The memory optimizer 104 allocates memory across all ofthe JVMs and all of the LPARs in the system. More information aboutLPARs is contained in the technical article entitled “AIX EXTRA: UsingDynamic LPAR in AIX 5L v5.2”, published in the publication IBM SYSTEMSMAGAZINE, dated April 2004.

According to one example embodiment, an information processing system(or computer system) 102 comprises a plurality of JVMs running on thesame operating system. A system monitor in the computer systemcontinuously monitors each JVM for run-time performance informationincluding, but not limited to, CPU usage, memory usage, and heap usage.The computer system, according to the present example, maintains thefollowing memory usage parameters:

1) softmx: the maximum size the heap is allowed to grow to. Softmx isalso known as the maximum heap size. After a heap size reaches the valueof the parameter softmx, garbage collection would need to occur to freeup heap space to allow more data to be stored on the heap. If garbagecollections are taking place too frequently, the garbage collectionoverhead for a CPU can become significant. Therefore, to reduce CPUoverhead, the value of the parameter softmx should not be too small.

2) committed: the amount of heap memory that has been committed by theoperating system to the JVM.

3) inuse: the amount of heap memory in use, e.g., the amount of heapmemory that the JVM is actually using.

A key feature of various embodiments of the present disclosure is thatthe value of parameter softmx can be varied dynamically for a JVM. Acomputer system, according to one embodiment, has the ability to cause aJVM to give back heap memory to an operating system. The memory which isreturned to the operating system can then be used for other things,including additional heap memory for another JVM. Various examples ofmethods for causing a JVM to return heap memory to an operating systemby lowering softmx are described in related application entitled“IMPROVING MEMORY USE FOR GARBAGE COLLECTED COMPUTER ENVIRONMENTS”,filed on the same filing date hereof, the disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

During normal execution (i.e., not during garbage collection), the valueof the parameter inuse will either rise as more heap memory is neededfor an application or stay the same. Programmers cannot explicitlydeallocate heap memory; however, the value of the parameter inuse candecrease as a result of garbage collection.

A memory rebalancer, according to various embodiments, monitors therun-time information across the JVMs and makes globally optimaldecisions across the JVMs for allocating memory. The memory rebalancer,in various embodiments, can operate as part of the memory optimizer inoptimizing memory.

The memory rebalancer has knowledge of the overhead each JVM incurs forgarbage collection. The maximum heap size for a JVM is known as softmx.Once the heap size reaches softmx (and sometimes before this happens)and more memory is needed, a garbage collection needs to be triggered tofree up memory.

If a JVM is spending too much time in garbage collection, the memoryrebalancer can raise the value of parameter softmx. An example of thisprocess is illustrated in FIG. 6. After entering the process thecomputer system 102 is continuously monitored, at step 602. Thismonitoring may be implemented with assistance from a system monitor thatcontinuously monitors each JVM for run-time performance information, ashas been discussed above. If the computer system 102 determines, at step604, that garbage collection activity (also referred to as “garbagecollection overhead”) is above a threshold value, computer system 102,at step 606, increases the maximum heap size (softmx) for the JVM. Itshould be noted that the monitoring taking place in step 602 may becontinuous and may continue to take place while other steps areconcurrently executing.

This increase in the value of parameter softmx might reduce the overheadof garbage collection by making them less frequent. The computer system102 can also keep profile information on how garbage collection overheadvaries over time with increasing softmx values. If recent increases insoftmx have not reduced garbage collection overhead by a significantamount, then it may not be advisable to increase softmx further.

After a garbage collection operation by a garbage collector, committedheap memory by default will not go down, even if the garbage collectorfrees a considerable amount of heap storage. This means that the JVMwill often maintain excess free heap storage for itself which could bereturned to the operating system such as to be used by other JVMs andother applications.

Some garbage collections compact memory, which frees up large blocks ofcontiguous memory. Other garbage collections do not compact memory.While it is advantageous to compact memory, the drawback is thatcompaction involves overhead. There is less overhead to performing agarbage collection without compacting memory as compared with performinga garbage collection which compacts memory. Thus, when garbagecollection is invoked, memory might be compacted during some of theinvocations. For other invocations, memory might not be compacted. Agarbage collection which compacts memory is referred to as a compactinggarbage collection.

One key difficulty is how to automate this process discussed above.According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, as will bediscussed in more detail below, a memory optimizer in the computersystem tracks the frequency of garbage collections on heap memory withina JVM. When the frequency of garbage collections is high or moderate,this indicates significant heap usage. Therefore, under such conditionsit is not advisable for the JVM to give up memory to the operatingsystem. If the frequency of garbage collections is sufficiently high, itmay even be desirable for the memory optimizer, or the JVM, to raise thevalue of the parameter softmx to allow the heap size for the JVM to growlarger. See FIG. 6 for an example of such a method. When garbagecollections activity is sufficiently low, the memory optimizer in thecomputer system then determines whether the JVM can release memory tothe operating system. See FIG. 7 for an example of such a method.

There are multiple ways in which the computer system 102 can determinethe overhead consumed by garbage collection, including but not limitedto any one or a combination of the following:

1) Time since the last garbage collection (or compacting garbagecollection) has exceeded a threshold value;

2) Frequency of last several garbage collections (or compacting garbagecollections). It is preferable to weight frequencies of more recentgarbage collections higher than less recent ones;

3) Time, and/or other overhead metric, spent in recent garbagecollections (or compacting garbage collection). It is preferable toweight more recent garbage collections (or compacting garbagecollection) higher than less recent ones; and

Note that it is also possible to normalize any of the above garbagecollection or compacting garbage collection) metrics by dividing thenumber by a quantity such as a processing time. For example, thefrequency of a garbage collection over a period of time (or compactinggarbage collection) could be divided by the CPU cycles consumed by theapplication over that period of time.

For some JVMs, it is difficult to determine actual CPU cycles spent ingarbage collection, while it may be straightforward to determine garbagecollection frequencies, as well as when a garbage collection has takenplace. This is a key reason why it may be easier to use garbagecollection frequencies instead of garbage collection CPU overhead inoptimizing memory usage.

In order to increase softmx for a JVM, the operating system must havesufficient free space to give to the JVM. This means that JVMs also needto give back memory by lowering softmx when a JVM is not garbagecollecting frequently. An example of such a method is illustrated inFIG. 7.

After entering the process, the computer system 102 is continuouslymonitored. This monitoring may be implemented with assistance from asystem monitor that continuously monitors each JVM for run-timeperformance information, as has been discussed above. If the computersystem 102 determines, at step 702, that memory in the system is too low(for example, one or more JVMs or other applications in the system maybe running low on memory), then the computer system 102 identifies, atstep 704, a JVM J1 with low garbage collection activity; this is done bydetermining that the garbage collection activity (also referred to as“garbage collection overhead”) for JVM J1 is below a threshold value.The memory rebalancer, at step 706, decreases the maximum heap size(softmx) for JVM J1. Monitoring of the computer system 102 may becontinuous and may continue to take place while other steps areconcurrently executing.

When softmx is lowered for a JVM, the JVM can give back memory to theoperating system by using a method such as the one described in relatedapplication entitled “IMPROVING MEMORY USE FOR GARBAGE COLLECTEDCOMPUTER ENVIRONMENTS”, filed on the same filing date hereof, thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

In cases in which the memory of the system is fully utilized, JVMs mighttake memory from the operating system at some points and give backmemory to the operating system at other points. This is because the heapmemory requirements for JVMs can be variable. Thus, the memoryrebalancer has the ability to optimize memory use across multiple JVMs.

The memory rebalancer can consider garbage collection overhead inoptimizing memory. For example, it can try to equalize garbagecollection overhead across all JVMs. For a JVM which is consumingsignificantly less garbage collection overhead than the average, softmxcan be lowered. For a JVM which is consuming significantly more garbagecollection overhead than the average, softmx can be raised.

A variation on this approach would be to weight garbage collectionoverhead in making these decisions. For example, garbage collectionoverhead could be weighted by the average amount of heap space beingused. As another example, a JVM might have premium service which wouldmean that the JVM is allowed to have a larger heap size to consume lessgarbage collection overhead than would otherwise be the case.

Another variation on this approach is to have either a minimum and/or amaximum softmx value for one or more JVMs. That would allow somevariation in maximum heap size for a JVM, but not too much. This canprevent the heap size of a JVM from becoming too small and/or too large.

Each JVM can have a garbage collection overhead (GCO) threshold. Whenthe garbage collection overhead for a JVM is above the GCO threshold,this indicates that too much time is being spent in garbage collection.The memory rebalancer can try to reduce garbage collection overhead forthe JVM by increasing the maximum heap size for the JVM.

The memory rebalancer needs to make judicious choices in varying softmx.If softmx is varied too frequently, this can result in unnecessaryoverhead. In order to limit unnecessary changes to softmx, the memoryrebalancer can use the following heuristics:

(1) If there is no memory pressure and the system has sufficient memoryto meet the demands of all JVMs, it is not necessary to lower softmx toforce a JVM to return memory to the operating system.

(2) If the system has insufficient memory to meet the demands of allJVMs, this indicates that given the amount of memory in the system, atleast one of the JVMs is incurring too much garbage collection overhead.This would be indicated if the garbage collection overhead for the JVMis above the GCO threshold. The operating system does not have sparememory to give to the JVM. If the differences between garbage collectionoverhead and GCO threshold across all JVMs are not significant, thisindicates that not much will be gained by trying to give memory from oneJVM to another. The memory rebalancer will not change the allocation ofmemory across the JVMs. It will only try to change the allocation ofmemory across the JVMs if it encounters significant variations indifferences between garbage collection overhead and GCO threshold for atleast two JVMs.

Now consider a situation in which at least one JVM m1 is incurring toomuch garbage collection overhead and the operating system does not havespare memory to give to m1. Furthermore, there is at least one other JVMfor which the difference between garbage collection overhead and GCOthreshold is significantly lower than that for m1. In this case, it isprofitable for the memory rebalancer to vary memory allocation acrossthe JVMs.

The memory rebalancer tries to find memory for m1 from another JVM whichhas extra memory to give up. A JVM has extra memory to give up if itsgarbage collection overhead is below its garbage collection overheadthreshold. If multiple JVMs have garbage collection overheads belowtheir garbage collection overhead thresholds, then the memory rebalancercan first try to reclaim memory from those JVMs for which thedifferences between garbage collection overhead threshold and garbagecollection overhead are highest.

It may be the case that the operating system does not have spare memoryand all JVMs are incurring garbage collection overheads which are abovetheir GCO thresholds. In this situation, the memory rebalancer will onlytry to change memory allocation across JVMs if there are significantdifferences in how much a JVM is exceeding its GCO threshold. If JVM m1is only exceeding its garbage collection overhead threshold by a smallamount and JVM m2 is exceeding its garbage collection threshold by alarge amount, then the memory rebalancer can try to give some memoryfrom m1 to m2.

When the memory rebalancer makes decisions about whether to move memorybetween JVMs and how much to move, it can also take into account factorssuch as heap size (e.g., give preference to reclaiming memory from JVMswith larger heap sizes), whether a JVM is one designated to receivepremium service (if so, it is entitled to have lower garbage collectionoverheads), and historical profile information from a JVM. If a JVM m1has memory to give up but historical profile information indicates thatthe JVM is likely to soon see an increase in memory usage, it may not beadvisable for m1 to give up memory. As another example, suppose thatJVMs m1 and m2 both have extra memory; the garbage collection overheadsfor both m1 and m2 are significantly below their respective GCOthresholds. However, historical profile information shows that if memoryis taken away from m1, then garbage collection overhead for m1 will risesignificantly. By contrast, if memory is taken away from m2, thengarbage collection overhead for m2 will only rise slightly. In thissituation, it is preferable to take memory away from m2 instead of m1.

The inventors have implemented various embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Experiments have demonstrated that performance degrades whenheap sizes are too small. When the heap size is too small, the inventorshave found that the average time to allocate a heap object can riseconsiderably. A key problem is determining a good metric for theincrease in overhead when heap sizes are too small. The inventors havefound that on certain JVMs, performance suffers once garbage collectionsand/or compacting garbage collections increase in frequency. Byincreasing heap sizes up to a certain point, the frequency of garbagecollections is reduced which results in less CPU overhead for memorymanagement. By contrast, if heap sizes are reduced, the frequency ofgarbage collections increase, which leads to more CPU overhead formemory management.

In order to estimate overhead for memory management, certain metrics canbe used, such as m1 and m2 as follows.

m1=garbage collection frequency divided by processing time or processingcycles for operations other than garbage collection.

m2=compacting garbage collection frequency divided by processing time orprocessing cycles for operations other than garbage collection.

A computer system, according to one embodiment, can expand heap sizes toreduce metric values such as m1 and m2. If there are multiple JVMs allcompeting for heap space, then the computer system can change heap sizesin order to partially (or fully) equalize metric values across JVMs. Forexample, if one JVM, j1, has a significantly higher metric value than asecond JVM j2, then j1's heap size can be increased, while j2's heapsize can be decreased.

The computer system 102 periodically monitors JVMs to determine if heapsizes need to be adjusted. During a monitoring period, heap usage ofeach JVM is monitored. If there is a significant variation in metricvalues for JVMs, the memory rebalancer can try to reduce heap sizes forJVMs with low metric values and increase heap sizes for JVMs with highmetric values.

The heap size can affect performance. If the heap size is too small,garbage collection overhead and/or the average CPU overhead to allocateheap objects can go up. Therefore, it is desirable to not make heapsizes too small.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure balance heap usage acrossmultiple JVMs. If a particular Java Virtual Machine, JVM1, is incurringsignificant overhead due to a heap size being too small, the memoryrebalancer can try to increase the heap size for JVM1. If the operatingsystem does not have enough memory to give more memory to JVM1, thememory rebalancer can try to obtain heap memory for JVM1 by taking awayheap memory from another JVM, such as JVM2 which has a sufficientlylarge heap so that memory can be taken away from JVM2 without incurringa significant performance penalty.

With reference to FIG. 1, according to one example embodiment of thepresent disclosure, a computer system 102 comprises a memory optimizer104. The memory optimizer 104 allocates memory across multiple JVMs 106,110, 114. Each JVM 106, 110, 114, is associated with a heap memory 108,112, 116. Each JVM 106, 110, 114, is periodically monitored, such as bya system monitor, for memory and CPU information. Periodically, thememory optimizer 104 is invoked to determine if heap memory sizes forone or more JVMs 106, 110, 114, should be adjusted. It should be notedthat the values for parameters committed and inuse shown in FIG. 1 aremerely illustrative examples, and a wide range of other values for theseparameters are possible as well.

Referring to FIG. 2, a more complex example of various embodiments ofthe present disclosure is shown. The computer system 102, in thisexample, comprises multiple logical partitions (LPARs) in which eachLPAR includes multiple JVMs, as shown. The memory optimizer 104allocates memory across multiple JVMs and multiple LPARs in the computersystem 102. The memory optimizer 104 can provide extra memory to an LPARor JVM which is running low on memory.

The memory optimizer 104 is given a total amount of heap memory that itcan allocate across all JVMs 106, 110, 114. This quantity may bechanging dynamically. The memory optimizer 104 determines garbagecollection activity levels for each JVM. There are multiple metrics fordetermining garbage collection activity levels as has been discussedearlier. At least two methods which can be used are:

1) Frequency of garbage collections; and

2) Frequency of compacting garbage collections.

Other methods can be used as well.

If a garbage collection activity level for a JVM is too high (one methodfor determining if a garbage collection activity level for a JVM is toohigh would be if the metric representing the garbage collection activitylevel exceeds a threshold), then it is desirable to increase the heapsize for the JVM. If the memory optimizer 104 has enough free memory togive to all JVMs whose garbage collection activity level is too high,then the memory optimizer 104 does not have to take away memory from oneJVM to give it to another JVM. Otherwise, the memory optimizer 104 cancalculate how to equitably distribute the limited heap memory across allJVMs 106, 110, 114.

The memory optimizer 104 determines an average garbage collectionactivity level across all JVMs 106, 110, 114. In many cases, it ispreferable to compute a weighted average garbage collection activitylevel instead, wherein garbage collection activity levels are weightedby one or more parameters such as the heap size of the JVM, importanceof the JVM, etc. For example, average garbage collection activity levelscould be weighted by softmx values of the JVMs. They could also beweighted based on any one or a combination of the value of eachparameter committed and inuse, other quantities correlated with heapsize, etc., within the scope of the present disclosure.

The memory optimizer 104 would attempt to raise softmx for JVMs whosegarbage collection activity level is significantly above the (possiblyweighted) average garbage collection activity level. For example, thememory optimizer 104 could determine that a JVM's garbage collectionactivity level is significantly above the (possibly weighted) averagegarbage collection activity level if the JVM's garbage collectionactivity level exceeds the (possibly weighted) average garbagecollection activity level by a threshold.

If insufficient free memory is available to give to the JVM, the memoryoptimizer 104 would lower softmx for JVMs whose garbage collectionactivity level is significantly below the (possibly weighted) averagegarbage collection activity level. When softmx (maximum heap size) islowered for a JVM, the JVM can give back memory to the operating systemby using a method such as the one described in related applicationentitled “IMPROVING MEMORY USE FOR GARBAGE COLLECTED COMPUTERENVIRONMENTS”, filed on the same filing date hereof, the disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

In order to determine if the garbage collection activity level for a JVMis significantly below the (possibly weighted) average garbagecollection activity level, the memory optimizer 104 could determine ifthe JVM's garbage collection activity level falls below the (possiblyweighted) average garbage collection activity level by an amountexceeding a threshold.

The memory optimizer 104 will often not change the softmx value for aJVM whose garbage collection activity level is close to the (possiblyweighted) average garbage collection activity level.

If the memory optimizer 104 determines that Java Virtual Machine JVM1 isentitled to a larger heap size, then the amount by which softmxincreases for JVM1 is correlated with the amount by which garbagecollection activity level for JVM1 exceeds the (possibly weighted)average garbage collection activity level. For example, if the garbagecollection activity level for JVM1 exceeds the weighted average garbagecollection activity level by a factor of 3, then JVM1 is more likely toget a higher increase in softmx than a situation in which the garbagecollection activity level for JVM1 exceeds the weighted average garbagecollection activity level by a factor of 1.5.

Similarly, if the memory optimizer determines that Java Virtual MachineJVM2 should give up some of its heap to help out one or more JVMs whichneed more heap memory, then the amount by which softmx decreases forJVM2 is correlated with the amount by which garbage collection activitylevel for JVM2 falls below the (possibly weighted) average garbagecollection activity level. For example, if the garbage collectionactivity level for JVM2 is ¼ the weighted average garbage collectionactivity level, then JVM2 is more likely to get a larger decrease insoftmx than a situation in which the garbage collection activity levelfor JVM2 is ½ the weighted average garbage collection activity level.

FIG. 3 shows a more detailed view of an alternative embodiment of acomputer system 102 suitable for use with various embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In particular, FIG. 3 shows an informationprocessing system (e.g., computer system) 102 that is based upon asuitably configured processing system adapted to implement one or moreembodiments of the present disclosure. Similarly, any suitablyconfigured processing system can be used as the information processingsystem 102 by various embodiments of the present disclosure. Theinformation processing system 102 can be a standalone system or residewithin a multi-system environment such as a parallel-distributingenvironment.

The information processing system (e.g., computer system) 102 includesat least one processor/controller 302. The at least one processor(s) 302is communicatively coupled with a memory 303 and with a non-volatilememory 304. The non-volatile memory 304 can be used to store program,data, and configuration parameters, in persistent memory.

An operating system (OS) 306, according to the present example, isstored in the non-volatile memory 304 and can interoperate with theprocessor/controller 302 to provide OS operations in the informationprocessing system 102. One or more memory management resources areprovided by the OS 306. For example, one or more garbage collectors (notshown) can be provided in the OS 306 and made available to be invoked toperform garbage collection, or compacting garbage collection, for one ormore heaps in the memory 303. Additionally, one or more timers (notshown) are provided in the OS 306 that can be used, for example, forkeeping track of timed events in the information processing system 102.As one example, the time since the last garbage collection (orcompacting garbage collection) can be monitored using the one or moretimers (not shown) in the OS 306.

A system monitor 308, according to the present example, is stored in thenon-volatile memory 304 and can interoperate with theprocessor/controller 302 to monitor run-time performance of theinformation processing system 102 and to collect run-time performanceinformation including, but not limited to, CPU usage, memory usage, andheap usage. The collected run-time performance information is stored andupdated in the non-volatile memory 304, such as in the parameters memory312.

A memory optimizer 104, according to the present example, is stored inthe non-volatile memory 304 and can interoperate with theprocessor/controller 302 to optimize memory management operations in theinformation processing system 102. Various of the operations performedwith the memory optimizer 104 are discussed above with reference to theoperational processing sequences illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7.

The non-volatile memory 304 includes a memory rebalancer 311. The memoryrebalancer 311 interoperates with the processor/controller 302 toallocate memory across multiple JVMs that are located, according to thepresent example, in the memory 301. The memory rebalancer 311 hasknowledge of the garbage collection overhead incurred by each JVM. If aJVM is spending too much time in garbage collection, the memoryrebalancer 311 can raise the maximum heap memory size for the JVM, whichmight reduce the overhead of garbage collection for that JVM by makinggarbage collection less frequent.

The various parameters stored in the parameters memory 312 in thenon-volatile memory 304, may include a set of thresholds 314 stored inthe non-volatile memory 304. Each of the thresholds (also referred to as“threshold values”) 314 stores a threshold value that can be monitoredand updated by the at least one processor/controller 302.

The processor/controller 302 is communicatively coupled with a historyprofile repository 315. The history profile repository 315 maintainsinformation on how garbage collection overhead varies for individualJVMs with changes in maximum heap memory size for the JVMs and withrespect to other performance parameters maintained for the JVMs. Thememory rebalancer 311 can refer to the information in the historyprofile repository 315 to make its decisions on how to allocate memoryto the particular JVM as well as to allocate memory to multiple JVMsthat are competing for memory in the computer system 102. The memoryrebalance 311 also makes its decisions and allocates memory between JVMsin the computer system 102.

The at least one processor/controller 302 is communicatively coupledwith a user interface 316 which includes a user output interface 318 anda user input interface 320. The user interface 316 provides the userinput interface 320 for receiving user input communication from a userof the information processing system 102. The user interface 316provides the user output interface 318 for providing communication to auser of the information processing system 102

The user output interface 318 may include one or more display devices todisplay information to a user of the system 102. A display device (notshown) can include a monochrome or color Liquid Crystal Display (LCD),Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED), or other suitable displaytechnology for conveying image information (e.g., text, graphics, icons,etc.) to a user of the information processing system 102. A displaydevice, according to certain embodiments, comprises a graphical userinterface (GUI). A display device can include, according to certainembodiments, touch screen technology, e.g., a touchscreen display, whichalso serves as a user input interface 320 for detecting user input(e.g., touch of a user's finger or of a stylus). One or more speakers inthe user output interface 318 can provide audible information to theuser, and one or more indicators can provide indication of certainconditions of the computer system 102 to the user. The indicators can bevisible, audible, or tactile, thereby providing necessary indicationinformation to the user of the information processing system 102.

The user input interface 320 may include one or more keyboards, keypads,mouse input device, track pad, and other similar user input devices. Amicrophone is included in the user input interface 320, according tovarious embodiments, as an audio input device that can receive audiblesignals from a user. The audible signals can be digitized and processedby audio processing circuits and coupled to the processor/controller 302for voice recognition applications such as for the informationprocessing system 102 to receive data and commands as user input from auser

One or more input/output interface modules 322 are communicativelycoupled with the processor/controller 302. In this way, the informationprocessing system 102 is able to communicate with other processingsystems and devices. For example, the processor/controller 302 iscommunicatively coupled with interface module(s) 322 thatcommunicatively couple the information processing system 102 withexternal networks 324 and with a media reader/writer 326. The externalnetworks 324 can include any one or a combination of wired, wireless,local area, and wide area networks.

The media reader/writer 326 can interoperate with theprocessor/controller 302 to read and write machine (computer) readablemedia 328 that may be communicatively coupled with the mediareader/writer 326. Computer readable media 328, which in the presentexample comprise a form of computer readable storage medium, may becoupled with the media reader/writer 326 to provide information via theinterface module(s) 322 to-from the processor/controller 302 of theinformation processing system 102. For example, data, configurationparameters, and instructions for the processor/controller 302 may beprovided via the computer readable media 328 to the informationprocessing system 102.

The interface module(s) 322 can also connect, for example, mass storagedevices to the information processing system 102. One specific type ofdata storage device is an optical drive such as a CD/DVD drive, whichmay be used to store data to and read data from a computer readablestorage medium such as, but not limited to, a CD/DVD device. Anothertype of data storage device is a data storage device configured tosupport, for example, NTFS type file system operations.

Although only one CPU (processor/controller) 302 is illustrated forcomputer system 102, computer systems with multiple CPUs(processors/controllers) 302 can be used equally effectively. Variousembodiments of the present disclosure further incorporate interfacesthat each includes separate, fully programmed processors that are usedto off-load processing from the CPU 302.

An operating system 306 included in the nonvolatile memory 304 is asuitable multitasking operating system such as any of the operatingsystems Linux, UNIX, Windows, and Windows Server based operatingsystems, which optionally may also comprise a multi-processing operatingsystem. Various embodiments of the present disclosure are able to useany other suitable operating system. Some embodiments of the presentdisclosure utilize architectures, such as an object oriented frameworkmechanism, that allows instructions of the components of operatingsystem to be executed on any processor/controller 302 located within theinformation processing system 102. Various embodiments of the presentdisclosure are able to be adapted to work with any data communicationsconnections including present day analog and/or digital techniques orvia a future networking mechanism.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of the history profile informationrepository 315, as shown in FIG. 3, according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure. For each JVM, history profile information 315 ismaintained organized, in this example, by the types of informationidentified in the top row 402. The first column 401 shows the timeintervals for which history profile information is maintained for aparticular JVM. For example, as shown, a first time interval 404maintains values for the various types of history profile informationthat are maintained for the particular JVM. A second time interval 406maintains a second set of history profile information for the JVM, andfurther time intervals continuing up to an Nth time interval 408 thatalso maintains a set of history profile information for the JVM. Foreach time interval 401, the softmx parameter value 410 is stored in thehistory profile information 315. The amount of time spent by the JVM ingarbage collection is also stored as a value 412 in the history profileinformation 315 for the JVM. The frequency of garbage collection 414 isstored for each time interval in the history profile information 315 forthe JVM. The time since a last garbage collection was performed 416 forthe JVM is stored in the history profile information 315 for the JVM.The inuse parameter value 418 is stored for each time interval. Thecommitted parameter value 420 is stored for each time interval in thehistory profile information 315. Other information (not shown) may alsobe stored for each time interval in the history profile information 315for the JVM.

According to the present example, the system monitor 308 collects theinformation for each time interval and stores the information in thehistory profile information repository 315 for each JVM. In this way,the history profile information repository 315 maintains information foreach JVM over several time intervals such that the memory rebalance 311can refer to this information and make decisions regarding allocatingmemory to each of multiple JVMs in the computer system 102.

FIG. 5 illustrates with a graph 502 one example of how the memoryrebalance 311 can consider garbage collection overhead for multiple JVMsto optimize memory allocation to each of the JVMs to attempt to equalizegarbage collection overhead across all JVMs. The graph 502 shows garbagecollection overhead 504 over time 506 for a particular JVM. The time 506can be tracked by time intervals with information stored in the historyprofile information repository 315 for the particular JVM. Garbagecollection overhead for the particular JVM is shown with the line 508.The memory rebalance 311 also can track average garbage collectionoverhead 510 for the multiple JVMs that are competing for memory in thecomputer system 102. The average garbage collection overhead for the setof JVMs in the computer system 102 is shown by line 510.

A first threshold 512 is maintained in the thresholds 314 in thenon-volatile memory 304 to determine when the garbage collectionoverhead is high for each JVM. A second threshold 514 is maintained inthe thresholds 314 in the non-volatile memory 304 to determine whengarbage collection overhead is low for the particular JVM. These twothreshold values 512, 514 do not necessarily have to equal each other.Each of the two thresholds 512, 514 can vary from a value of 0 to anabsolute value that can be determined by the performance criteriaassigned to 1 or more JVMs in the set of JVMs in the computer system102.

When garbage collection overhead reaches the high garbage collectionoverhead threshold 512 above the average garbage collection overhead 510for the set of JVMs, such as shown at point A 516, the memory rebalance311 can determine that the garbage collection overhead of the particularJVM may be too high. While the garbage collection overhead of theparticular JVM is above the high threshold 512 as illustrated by thedashed line 520, the memory rebalance 311 may attempt to increase themaximum memory size for the particular JVM to mitigate and attempt toreduce the amount of garbage collection overhead for the particular JVM.

On the other hand, when the garbage collection overhead of theparticular JVM drops below a low garbage collection overhead threshold514 below the average garbage collection overhead 510 for the set ofJVMs, such as shown by point B 518, the heap memory rebalancer 311 mayreduce the maximum memory size for the particular JVM, since the garbagecollection overhead for the particular JVM is very low and therefore theJVM may not need so much heap memory to operate.

The region between the high garbage collection overhead 512 and the lowgarbage collection overhead 514 defines a hysteresis region 522 forgarbage collection overhead. That is, the memory rebalancer 311,according to the present example, does not attempt to change the amountof maximum heap memory allocated to the particular JVM. In this way, thememory rebalancer 311 only takes action when the garbage collectionoverhead for the JVM reaches the high garbage collection overheadthreshold 312 such as indicated at point A 516.

Similarly, the memory rebalancer 311 only takes action to release heapmemory from the JVM at point B 518. In this way, the memory rebalancer311 tends to keep the garbage collection overhead for each and everymember of the set of JVMs to within the hysteresis region 522. Insummary, the memory rebalancer 311 makes a decision whether to vary amaximum heap memory size for one application of a plurality ofapplications based on monitoring a garbage collection activity level forthe application being one of outside and inside of a hysteresis regiondefined by an upper threshold and a lower threshold of garbagecollection activity level for a distribution of garbage collectionactivity levels monitored for the plurality of applications whilerunning on the information processing system. The memory rebalancer 311makes a decision to vary a maximum heap memory size for an applicationof the plurality of applications based on monitoring a garbagecollection activity level for the application being outside of thehysteresis region. The memory rebalancer 311 makes a decision to notvary a maximum heap memory size for the application based on monitoringa garbage collection activity level for the application being inside ofthe hysteresis region. This is only one example of how the memoryrebalancer 311 may allocate memory to one or more JVMs in a set of JVMsin a computer system 102.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, aspects ofthe present disclosure may be embodied as a system, method, or computerprogram product. Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure may takethe form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely softwareembodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) oran embodiment combining software and hardware aspects, that may eachgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablestorage medium(s) having computer readable program code embodiedthereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or alternatively a computer readable storage medium.

A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limitedto, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combinationof the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of thecomputer readable storage medium would include the following: anelectrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computerdiskette, a hard disk, solid-state memory, a memory card or otherpackage that houses one or more memories, a random access memory (RAM),other re-writable (volatile) memories, a read-only memory (ROM), anerasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), anoptical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), anoptical storage device, a magnetic storage device, a magneto-opticalmedium such as a disk or tape, other tangible media which can be used tostore information, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In thecontext of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be anytangible medium (i.e., any computer readable medium that is not acomputer readable signal medium) and that can embody, contain, and/orstore, a program for use by or in connection with an instructionexecution processing system, apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution processing system, apparatus, or device. Programcode embodied on a computer readable signal medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, microwave, etc., or any suitablecombination of the foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent disclosure may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer, or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

The flowcharts and block diagrams in the figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed concurrently, orthe blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, dependingupon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each blockof the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations ofblocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can beimplemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform thespecified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

Aspects of the present disclosure are described with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to various embodimentsof the disclosure. It will be understood that one or more blocks of theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations ofblocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can beimplemented by computer program instructions. These computer programinstructions may be provided to one or more processors, to a specialpurpose computer, or to other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner. Instructions stored in a computer readable storage mediumproduce an article of manufacture including instructions which implementthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

In accordance with various embodiments, methods described herein areintended for operation as software programs running on a computerprocessor. Furthermore, software implementations can include, but arenot limited to, distributed processing or component/object distributedprocessing, parallel processing, or virtual machine processing and canalso be constructed to implement the methods described herein.

The terms program, software application, application, and the like, asused herein, are defined as one or more sequences of instructionsdesigned for execution on a processing system. A program, computerprogram, application, or software application, may include a subroutine,a function, a procedure, an object method, an object implementation, anexecutable application, an applet, a servlet, a source code, an objectcode, a shared library/dynamic load library and/or other sequence ofinstructions designed for execution on a processing system.

While the computer readable media 328 is shown in the current exampleembodiment as a single computer readable storage medium, the term“computer readable storage medium” should be taken to include a singlemedium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database,and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets ofinstructions. The term “computer-readable storage medium” shall includeany non-transitory medium that is capable of storing or encoding a setof instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machineto perform any one or more of the methods of the subject disclosure.

Although the present specification may describe components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the disclosure is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Each of the standards represent examples of the state of theart. Such standards are from time-to-time superseded by faster or moreefficient equivalents having essentially the same functions.

The illustrations of examples described herein are intended to provide ageneral understanding of the structure of various embodiments, and theyare not intended to serve as a complete description of all the elementsand features of apparatus and systems that might make use of thestructures described herein. Many other embodiments will be apparent tothose of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Otherembodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structuraland logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing fromthe scope of this disclosure. Figures are also merely representationaland may not be drawn to scale. Certain proportions thereof may beexaggerated, while others may be minimized. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated toachieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodimentsshown. The examples herein are intended to cover any and all adaptationsor variations of various embodiments. Combinations of the aboveembodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein,are contemplated herein.

The Abstract is provided with the understanding that it is not intendedbe used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Inaddition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, various features aregrouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamliningthe disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require morefeatures than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as thefollowing claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than allfeatures of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims arehereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claimstanding on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. Plural and singular terms are the same unless expresslystated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms“comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification,specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations,elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence oraddition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The term “another”, as usedherein, is defined as at least a second or more. The terms “including”and “having,” as used herein, are defined as comprising (i.e., openlanguage). The term “coupled,” as used herein, is defined as“connected,” although not necessarily directly, and not necessarilymechanically. “Communicatively coupled” refers to coupling of componentssuch that these components are able to communicate with one anotherthrough, for example, wired, wireless or other communications media. Theterm “communicatively coupled” or “communicatively coupling” includes,but is not limited to, communicating electronic control signals by whichone element may direct or control another. The term “configured to”describes hardware, software or a combination of hardware and softwarethat is adapted to, set up, arranged, built, composed, constructed,designed or that has any combination of these characteristics to carryout a given function. The term “adapted to” describes hardware, softwareor a combination of hardware and software that is capable of, able toaccommodate, to make, or that is suitable to carry out a given function.

The terms “controller”, “computer”, “processor”, “server”, “client”,“computer system”, “computing system”, “personal computing system”,“processing system”, or “information processing system”, describeexamples of a suitably configured processing system adapted to implementone or more embodiments herein. Any suitably configured processingsystem is similarly able to be used by embodiments herein, for exampleand not for limitation, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a workstation, orthe like. A processing system may include one or more processing systemsor processors. A processing system can be realized in a centralizedfashion in one processing system or in a distributed fashion wheredifferent elements are spread across several interconnected processingsystems.

The terms “heap” or “heap memory” are intended to broadly refer to thememory area managed using garbage collection and is not specific to theJava programming language or specific to any other programming language.The term “run-time system” in the context of the present disclosure isintended to broadly refer to a run-time operating environment orplatform for executing a compatible application thereon, and whichexecutes the application on a processing system. Optionally, therun-time system executes the application in coordination with anoperating system on a processing system. The application may, but notnecessarily, include the run-time system. For example, and not forlimitation, a Java application may execute on a Java Virtual Machinerun-time system.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription herein has been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to theexamples in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations willbe apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing fromthe scope of the disclosure presented or claimed. The disclosedembodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principlesof the embodiments and the practical application, and to enable othersof ordinary skill in the art to understand the various embodiments withvarious modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.It is intended that the appended claims below cover any and all suchapplications, modifications, and variations within the scope of theembodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. In a processing system including an application,a run-time system, and a heap memory used by the application, whereinunused memory in the heap memory is reclaimed by a garbage collector, amethod for managing memory used by the application comprising:periodically monitoring, with the processing system, information relatedto the application's memory usage including a maximum heap memory size,an in use heap memory size, and a garbage collection activity level;based on determining that the garbage collection activity level is belowa first threshold, estimating an amount of memory that can be releasedfrom the application by reducing the maximum heap memory size; and basedon determining that the estimated amount of memory that can be releasedfrom the application is above a second threshold, releasing memory fromthe application.
 2. The method of claim 1 in which the estimating anamount of memory that can be released from the application by reducingthe maximum heap memory size comprises: determining a difference betweena committed heap memory size and the in use heap memory size.
 3. Themethod of claim 1 in which the estimating an amount of memory that canbe released from the application by reducing the maximum heap memorysize comprises: performing a compacting garbage collection; anddetermining a difference between a committed heap memory size and the inuse heap memory size.
 4. The method of claim 1 in which releasing memoryfrom the application further comprises: performing a compacting garbagecollection to instantiate a reduced value of maximum heap memory size.5. The method of claim 1 further comprising: increasing the maximum heapmemory size to allow the application to allocate more heap memory. 6.The method of claim 1 in which the application comprises a Java virtualmachine.
 7. The method of claim 1 in which the garbage collectionactivity level is determined based on at least one of: a time since agarbage collection was performed on the heap memory; a frequency ofgarbage collection performed on the heap memory; and a time spent ingarbage collection performed on the heap memory.
 8. The method of claim1 in which the garbage collection activity level is determined based onat least one of: a time since a compacting garbage collection wasperformed on the heap memory; a frequency of compacting garbagecollection performed on the heap memory; and a time spent in at leastone compacting garbage collection performed on the heap memory.
 9. Themethod of claim 1 in which the monitored garbage collection activitylevel is determined by normalizing a metric representing garbagecollection overhead by an amount of processing time spent by theapplication not including garbage collection.
 10. The method of claim 1,further comprising: providing a plurality of options to a user forspecifying a level at which the processing system attempts to reducememory used by the application.
 11. An information processing systemcomprising: a memory comprising a heap memory for use by at least oneapplication; a processor communicatively coupled to the memory; agarbage collector communicatively coupled to the processor and thememory, wherein unused memory in the heap memory is reclaimed by thegarbage collector; and wherein the processor, responsive to executingcomputer instructions, performs operations comprising: periodicallymonitoring, with the processing system, information related to theapplication's memory usage including a maximum heap memory size, an inuse heap memory size, and a garbage collection activity level; based ondetermining that the garbage collection activity level is below a firstthreshold, estimating an amount of memory that can be released from theapplication by reducing the maximum heap memory size; and based ondetermining that the estimated amount of memory that can be releasedfrom the application is above a second threshold, releasing memory fromthe application.
 12. The information processing system of claim 11, inwhich the estimating an amount of memory that can be released from theapplication by reducing the maximum heap memory size comprises:determining a difference between a committed heap memory size and the inuse heap memory size.
 13. The information processing system of claim 11,in which the estimating an amount of memory that can be released fromthe application by reducing the maximum heap memory size comprises:performing a compacting garbage collection; and determining a differencebetween a committed heap memory size and the in use heap memory size.14. The information processing system of claim 11, in which thereleasing memory from the application further comprises: performing acompacting garbage collection to instantiate a reduced value of maximumheap memory size.
 15. The information processing system of claim 11,wherein the processor, responsive to executing the computerinstructions, performs operations comprising: increasing the maximumheap memory size to allow the application to allocate more heap memory.16. The information processing system of claim 11, in which theapplication comprises a Java virtual machine.
 17. The informationprocessing system of claim 11, further comprising a user input interfacefor receiving user input communications from a user of the informationprocessing system, and a user output interface for providing outputcommunications to the user, and wherein the processor, responsive toexecuting the computer instructions, performs operations comprising:providing a plurality of options to the user, via the user outputinterface, for the user to select, via the user input interface, one ofthe plurality of options to specify a level at which the informationprocessing system attempts to reduce memory used by the application,each option of the plurality of options being associated with arespective one pre-configured parameter setting of a plurality ofdifferent pre-configured parameter settings in the informationprocessing system.
 18. A computer readable storage medium, comprisingcomputer instructions which, responsive to being executed by a processorcause the processor to perform operations, the processor being in aninformation processing system comprised of a memory communicativelycoupled to the processor, the memory comprising a heap memory, and agarbage collector communicatively coupled to the processor and thememory, wherein unused memory in the heap memory is reclaimed by thegarbage collector, and wherein the processor, responsive to executingthe computer instructions, performs operations comprising: periodicallymonitoring, with the processing system, information related to theapplication's memory usage including a maximum heap memory size, an inuse heap memory size, and a garbage collection activity level; based ondetermining that the garbage collection activity level is below a firstthreshold, estimating an amount of memory that can be released from theapplication by reducing the maximum heap memory size; and based ondetermining that the estimated amount of memory that can be releasedfrom the application is above a second threshold, releasing memory fromthe application.
 19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18,in which the estimating an amount of memory that can be released fromthe application by reducing the maximum heap memory size comprises:performing a compacting garbage collection; and determining a differencebetween a committed heap memory size and the in use heap memory size.20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18, in which thegarbage collection activity level is determined based on at least oneof: a time since a compacting garbage collection was performed on theheap memory; a frequency of compacting garbage collection performed onthe heap memory; and a time spent in at least one compacting garbagecollection performed on the heap memory.